Too Late
by dontwaitupxx
Summary: A month after the incident at Laboratory Five, Edward gets himself into another mess. Ship-less. :rated for torture, blood... lots of blood, minor swearing, violence:


Too Late

By: dontwaitupxx

--

"So you don't have any information on what happened at Laboratory Five while _you _were there?"

Edward Elric swallowed his pride and said in a small voice, "No, sir."

Colonel Roy Mustang slammed down the papers that he had in his hands onto his desk, "Ed, we both know that you are hiding a key point from me. We both know that you were conscious enough to see who your captivators were and as to what was going on. There is something that you're not telling me, and I _demand_ that you tell me _immediately._"

Edward's eyes narrowed as he thought back on what had happened back at the recent visit to Laboratory Five. It was not a place that he would willingly visit again. Inside, deep within the walls was the sanctuary for the transmutation circle and the location of a massacre that he was so close to committing; the homunculus were holding Edward and his brother, Alphonse in their clutches, just where they wanted them. They used, in vaguest terms, blackmailing to try and get Edward to do what they were unable to do: alchemy. They wanted him to use alchemy to make all three homunculi – Lust, Sloth, and Envy – human again. When Edward refused to do so, they punished him physically and mentally and threatened to kill his brother, just as they had with the previous victim of the blood seal.

It was until Scar showed up that the homunculi were about to get what they had always dreamed of: of being human. Edward felt that he had no choice but to make the homunculi a Philosopher's Stone so that they would be able to make themselves human if he were to save his brother's life. The homunculi inquired the knowledge that Alphonse meant so much to his brother, and that so many mistakes were made in the past, which were regretted, and that Edward would do anything if it were to save his brother's life.

Scar had jumped down from the ceiling above, telling the Elric brothers to get themselves out of Laboratory Five. In the process of emerging from the ceiling, Scar had broken most of the large tubes of the red water – a vital ingredient in order to make a Philosopher's Stone. Within simple steps of where Edward was standing, he had stepped into the red water, and the exposure to so much Alchemic Power had been enough to – heard from other officers – to turn him into a god. It wouldn't have though. It would have simply killed him if it had not been for Lieutenant Ross, one of the many officers who had made their way into Laboratory Five to retrieve their two soldiers. All Edward remembered after stepping into the red water was the blinding light all around him, and the amounts of energy going through his system – at an extreme – and then nothing at all. He figured that he had passed out at that moment, which was easily agreeable by many standards.

He had woken up in the hospital some week later, varying a day and he had played it dumb from there. He had told Maes Hughes of what _accompanied _him down in Laboratory Five, but both officers thought it best that they were not the ones to tell Colonel Mustang. They both thought it best that he would be the one not to know and get hit hands dirty in the mystery. The homunculi's whereabouts were unknown, and Edward assumed it best to keep it that way. He decided it would be best to stay on his guard though, if any of them were to come back.

Edward had stayed silent for a few tension filled moments, before saying, "There is nothing of great importance about the incident at Laboratory Five that I haven't already told you."

"Is it even possible that I can believe you?"

Edward shrugged and said in a cocky tone, "You can believe what you want to believe, Mustang. I've been right before and I've been wrong, so call this 'on my word'. There is nothing more that you need to know about."

Roy Mustang lifted himself up from his desk and leaned forward with his hands out on the desk in front of him, "Fullmetal, if I find out that you are bending the truth in any way, shape or form, or if you're just flat out lying to me about the entire incident, then there will be hell to pay." Roy growled, "Do I make myself clear?"

Edward shrugged again, "Sure, Mustang. You're as clear as water in my eyes."

Mustang straightened up a bit, "You are acting guilty, Fullmetal, so I'd watch my back if I were you, and I'm keeping my word as I said. If you are leaving out something so damned important, then I could have you arrested for falsifying information to superior officers. You're dismissed."

Edward immediately turned on his heel and headed out of the room the opposing direction. His face expression was changed to one of great annoyance and anger. If Mustang had wanted to arrest him, then he would have had many chances to arrest him in the past with everything that Edward had committed. Hell, Mustang could have arrested Edward and Alphonse for the human transmutation that they committed, and yet, they both had never been involved in a military arrest.

Edward thought that he heard a snicker come from his _superior _officer. He shook his head in disgust. His leading officer thought it hilarious of what the past few weeks had come by for Edward. Of being locked in that hospital room than an extra week than necessary all due to extra precautions, the replacement of his automail, and even the fact that Winry had force fed him like a baby a bottle of milk, Edward wasn't in the happiest moods of his life. Especially when Mustang ordered him to his office the moment that Edward got out of the hospital wasn't giving Edward the best of thoughts. He thought for a moment how Mustang would like to be force fed milk, especially by a lower officer. That should make him feel extra special.

Edward walked down the long hallway leading to the stair case and his way out of the building. Down the hallway, fellow officers backed away from Edward's death sentence of a glare. Even Hawkeye flinched at his expression when she saw his glare. Edward didn't care about the whispers he was hearing behind him. He didn't care about anything for that moment. He just felt that he needed some fresh air and some time alone. He didn't _appreciate _it when Mustang reminded him of his placement in the military. He was still only a dog of the military, and had been so for four years, ever since he had arrived there when he was twelve. He also didn't appreciate it when people reminded him of his size, especially when they compared his size to a dog; a dog of the military.

He headed out of the building with his automail arm catching the door in front of him, and he heard the satisfaction of glass crunch as it slammed against the brick wall. It released some of the tension in his nerves, and the nerves in his automail were especially sensitive.

Once Edward hit the sidewalk, he broke into a sprint, not stopping for any of the pedestrians on the sidewalk. They were lucky that they saw him running along towards them and to get out of the way, or they would have been trampled under his shiny, automail leg. Regardless of being in the hospital for three weeks, he still had as much energy as he did before the accident at Laboratory Five.

There were important reasons why Edward didn't want to tell Mustang that his captivators were the homunculi. The homunculi were his prize, for they knew how to make a Philosopher's Stone, and if they knew how to make the stone, then he didn't want for the homunculi to be captured, if such as thing were possible. Edward knew that he would have to find them again, no matter how much he would loathe doing so, and to try and find out the other way to make the stone. They had already told him of one way, but he knew that there was another way, and he just had to find it out from them, for he knew that in the process in making a stone that they wanted him to suffer while doing so. Sacrifice of human souls was enough suffering.

He also couldn't tell Mustang about his captivators because if Mustang found out, then he would send out a search party, and people of the military that Edward had grown a bonding to would become targets for the next time they tried to persuade Edward into doing something. He couldn't put anyone at that kind of risk. From what he had seen them do, he knew that they weren't afraid to take away a human life. Take away his own soul to save many others; Edward was willing to put his own life at risk for others. He would do the same even if it was only for his brother's life to be spared. For anyone who mattered that much, Edward was willing to risk it.

He slowed down his sprint before it turned suicidal about half a mile away from head quarters. He was still trying to blow off steam, but figured that the fresh air could fix that. As if on cue, he took in a deep breath, and leaned up against the brick wall of a nearby building. A pedestrian could easily believe that he was a homeless child if it wasn't for the sliver pocket watch hanging proudly from the belt loops on his black pants. They also wouldn't believe that he was a homeless child because if they called him a child, he would most certainly blow up in their face. He was sixteen, and he had celebrated his sixteenth birthday in a lumpy hospital bed in a sterile hospital room in a quiet – oh so very quiet – hospital building. He had also spent the eve of his birthday getting his automail repaired, which Winry had announced that was her gift to him, at a cost though.

Edward exhaled his breath and saw his breath white in the air. He didn't _feel _cold, but perhaps it was because he had just sprinted half a mile away from head quarters. He made a mental note to himself to blow up in any officer's faces who called him a child for running away like that. Or even a joke about how he could have ran faster if only his legs had been longer. As a matter of fact, if they announced that joke to him they just might find an automail limb stuck in their jaw. Edward hoped that Mustang would be the one to make those nasty jokes the next day at headquarters. He imagined briefly what an automail limb would look like stuck in Mustang's loud of a mouth. Edward laughed to himself quietly.

Edward lifted himself from the ground quietly, noticing how his automail was getting rather near freezing near his skin and nerves, making it quite difficult to move both limbs. He knew that he should be getting back to the Military dorms quickly, for his brother, Alphonse, would be missing him. He didn't want another lecture about curfews from his over-protective brother again. He started down the sidewalk at a slow walk, but his pace was brought up rapidly, for in ten seconds, his pace had gone from a slow walk, to a full on suicidal sprint. He realized that people might freak out if someone was sprinting down the sidewalks, but soon found that he didn't care. All that was on the top of his mind was getting back to his dorm and grabbing a cup of coffee and researching more on the Philosopher's Stone, for he knew that he had to find some other way to make one without the sacrifice of human souls. He knew that there absolutely had to be another way, and that it was hiding out there somewhere, just waiting to be discovered for the ones who needed to know it. Edward was sure that he was the most desperate to get his hands on the stone, and indeed, if anyone was going to find out the recipe next, it was he.

After four minutes of sprinting down the sidewalk and past the Military Headquarters, Edward soon made it to the Military dorms. He allowed his pace to slow down to a reasonable walk and opened the doors to the dorms, keeping in mind that the doors to the dorms didn't offend him in _any way, shape, or form, _so he opened it with his flesh arm.

Inside, the hallway lights were dimmed and to the left of him, Edward saw the poor furniture equipped commons which held a fireplace from the previous morning still burning away at a pot of hot water, almost empty. To the right of the fireplace held a small table which held coffee beans ground to a dust and also almost empty. Before another officer could stop in and take the last cup, Edward quickly made his move and led himself to the cupboard, where one last cup was sitting, waiting for someone to retrieve it. Edward did the honors and grabbed the pot from the fireplace, pouring himself a cup of hot water. He then went to the counter and put in the coffee mix, using a spoon to stir it in to relieve himself of most of the bitterness.

He then grabbed his cup of coffee and led himself up the stairs and down the hallway that led to his and Al's dorm. Along the way, Edward noticed many of the doors closed and could hear behind some of them loud and obnoxious snoring. He immediately wondered why someone would be sleeping when it was only nine o'clock, but then remembered an announcement at headquarters about an early mission that was beginning the next day. Some of the officers on his floor could easily be a part of that mission. Edward would have been assigned to that mission as well if it hadn't been for the hospital rules that applied to him. He could not receive any field work for an entire month after being released from the hospital. Nobody was nearly happy about this rule and from previous trips to and fro the hospital, Edward had to follow by these rules, and he had no intention of thinking that a month of no field work would be like a nice little vacation for him.

He reached the end of the hall which held his and Al's room. Ever so gently, he knocked on the door, expecting to hear angry metal footsteps behind it, but to an avail, he did not. He slowly turned the knob and found that the door was open. He opened it slowly, finding that the light was on inside, but that there was no metal to be found. He slowly closed the door behind him, and led his way over to the desk that was in the middle of the back wall underneath the window. Perched on top of the desk was a note that had not been there before. Edward grasped it in his flesh hand and read:

_Brother, I have gone to the Library to do some research on Alchemy. I'll be back in the room by midnight. I shall try and not to disrupt your sleep. _

_-Al_

Al… always short and to the point. Edward knew that his brother meant well when he researched on alchemy for a future reference. His brother was not nearly as talented as himself, but with the immortality that came with the blood seal, he was able to take advantage of the things that all alchemists wished on having: eternal life for eternal knowledge. Both Elric brothers though would trade immortality to be in their old bodies back at any day, though the worst price of their missing limbs was the fact that, regardless of Edward's false limbs, he was still ageing, while the younger Elric was trapped in his ten year old self by the blood seal.

Edward set down his cup onto the desk and allowed himself a seat at the desk. Carefully, without knocking over any of he items on the over cluttered desk, he reached for one of the many books that he had been using to research for the stone. He was able to do much of the research while he was in the hospital for he didn't have much else to do while stuck in that white, _white, _room. Al would hardly talk to him until he figured out that Al had believed that he was made up. Edward was able to suspect that Al still held onto a sliver of those feelings, for he wasn't nearly as open to him as he was before the incident at Laboratory Five. After they had found him later on, Edward was able to talk sense into him about how he _wasn't _made up and how he _wasn't _a figure made up by the imagination. Edward had found some way to prove to his brother that he was real and that he did exist, but Al had his mind set eagerly.

Edward reached for his coffee perched on the desk and took a sip from it. He grimaced at the taste that his coffee had black. He honestly regarded whether or not to go downstairs and add a bit of milk to his coffee. After being force fed milk in the hospital, he didn't exactly care for milk anymore than he did before, but his beverage was missing just a little something in particular that had the same characteristics as milk. Edward quickly shrugged off the thought reminding him that he did _not _enjoy milk.

Edward returned his gaze back to his book, reading some history about how in the 1600's, a Philosopher's Stone was created and its creator, a Sir Edmund Riley, ran off with it and went insane from what the stone could provide for him. It said that he had committed suicide after telling his associates that the stone could speak to him, and had told him to run to the Ray Mountains and back; without stopping.

Edward closed his book abruptly. That was the sixth person involved with a Philosopher's Stone that had run off from some reason or another and had committed suicide. After practically tasting death three weeks earlier, Edward was not in a usual state of mind where he could get around the suicide attempts and figure out what they did with the stone.

Edward held his cup of coffee in his hand and lifted himself up hastily from the desk and turned himself around. As Edward was turning around, though, his entire world was turning around. The room twisted around him in an unkind manner, and Edward felt his legs threaten to give out from underneath himself; including his automail leg.

Edward felt the world go around him violently and his balance suffered. His legs gave out at the same time and he fell to his knees. Ever so slowly, he looked around the room with glassy eyes and felt the blood drain from his face. The room increased in temperature dramatically and Edward lost feeling in all of his body.

He didn't even realize or hear the coffee cup in his hand smash into bits on the floor.

"…what…hell…?" Edward murmured, before the room was spinning too much for him to comprehend which way was up or down.

Edward felt a cold sweat starting above his upper lip and brow and the room was getting drastically dark. It was only until he found himself looking up at the ceiling before he realized that he was blacking out. He tried to lift himself up from the floor, but couldn't even move a muscle. He made an attempt to keep his eyes open, but the blackness came anyways, swallowing him even with his eyes open, and soon found the need to close his eyes.

Edward knew that nobody would come to find him any time soon. Alphonse was going to be at the library for near two and a half more hours, and by that time, would he nearly come in time? Edward wasn't sure when he would become aware next, but he knew that after _that _attack, he wouldn't be waking anytime soon.

Edward felt a shiver envelope his entire body before the darkness devoured him completely.

--

Alphonse Elric closed the book that he was researching on after looking up at the Roman numeral clock on the wall. It had told him that the time was eleven forty-five. His brother would be missing him.

He slowly stood up on his armored legs and grasped the book in his leather hands. Ever so gently, he tip toed over to the bookshelf, for the silence had an eerie tone to it. He carefully placed the book in its correct home between two almost-identical volumes of the same series. He, at the time, had been researching the 'taboos' of alchemy. Amongst the reading included chimera creativity, the laws against turning coal into gold, and what he had been reading, human transmutations. It wasn't the Elric brother's goal to reincarnate their mother from her grave again, but it had sparked an interest onto why and what the Elric brother's had done wrong. Each version of the taboos of alchemy had said the exact same thing: no human has ever had enough to give in order to bring back someone who is already dead.

A thought had raged in the back of Al's mind for a while that, if they had tried a human transmutation right after their mother died, would they have still been able to find her at the gate? Al had assumed not and that there was a chance that the alchemic reactions could be more severe if done while the soul was present at the gate. He didn't dare to think about what could have happened if it had been that way. Would Ed have been stuck with two automail legs and two automail arms? Or would it have been two, bulky suits of armor walking around Central hopping to get their bodies back? Thinking about how it could have been worse made Alphonse grateful that the reaction wasn't nearly as severe as it could have been. It gave him a more positive view on their life; at his life.

Al walked back to where he had been studying: a small table area with spare paper, pencils, and ink. He picked up the papers that he had been taking notes on at stacked them nice and neat. He then tucked them under his arm and headed towards the door without as much as a look back.

The streets of Central showed eerie scenery with no life. There were no pedestrians walking the streets at night. The street lamps that were normally powered by alchemy were all out, when normally, at that time at night, the lights would still be on. There was a moderate breeze going through the air that Alphonse noticed through the rustling of leaves on nearby trees. You couldn't even hear the crickets that lived in those trees. The silence and darkness made Alphonse feel like he was intruding on something confidential. That and it was making him feel suspicious, because a city as big as Central would _never _be this quiet. Or so he hoped.

Al made it to the military dorms in what seemed like no time at all, and opened the door with the side of his armor. Inside, the commons were dimmed out for the night, and there were also no signs of civilization. Once he made it to his floor his mind would be changed abruptly by the intense amounts of snoring the state alchemists could produce. Alphonse was about to make his way upstairs, when a flicker of light caught his eye. He turned his head towards the source and saw the fire place burning proudly in its reign. He knew that it wouldn't be safe to keep it burning all night. He headed over to the water pump over by the wall and grabbed the bucket beside it. He then put the bucket into the sink and started pumping out the water into the bucket. Once the bucket was full, he stopped pumping and headed the water over to the raging fire place. As gently as one metal can of armor could toss, he tossed the water onto the fire, hearing the fire's last protests before they were put to rest. The intensity of the light was decreased hastily, which brought eerie back into the atmosphere.

The darkness brought a creepy feeling in with it as well, and Alphonse quickly made his way to the stairs which were, thankfully, lit to their fullest potential. Making as little noise as he could, he tip toed up the stairs to the second floor and opened the door to the hallway which held all of the dorms. With the opening of the door came the welcoming of loud snores, regardless that their doors were closed. He again tip toed down the hallway to the end of the wing which held his and Edward's dorm. He fished out his key that he kept in the apron around his "waist" and plugged it into the key hole. He twisted it one day and heard the click as the door recognized the key's appearance. He pushed the door open and looked around the door…

…to find that the room held no occupants.

_Edward…_ Alphonse thought, _you had better be back by two tonight. I don't want to go out there looking for you over a silly and stupid verbal fight with Colonel Mustang._

Alphonse made his way over to the desk that he and Edward shared sat himself at the chair. He was about to grab a book from the pile that they had collected, but something caught his eye. Over on the right side of the desk held the note that Al had written for Edward if he were to return before himself and the note was turned upside down. Al distinctly remembered that he had placed the note right side up for when Edward returned, because he knew that Edward wouldn't take the time to turn it around to see what it was about.

Alphonse felt a bit scared at the moment and lifted himself up slowly from the desk. He was certain that either Edward had arrived before he did and had left before he had arrived, or there had or was an intruder in their dorm. Al slowly turned around and when he looked down at the floor…

…he found a broken coffee mug with its contents spilled across the floor. Al knew that he had _not _done _that_.

The next thing that Al saw beside it would have made his heart jump if he contained one.

What lay beside the mug was a small pool of blood and what looked like vomit. He cocked his view to the right and saw that it was dragged across the floor… all of the way to the window.

He hadn't noticed it before, but the window in their dorm was open. The curtains were blowing in the wind. Al would have felt cold if he remembered what it felt like and he knew that his blood would be running cold too if he also had that; but instead, he was almost expressionless, as he tried to figure out what to do.

Almost without hesitation once a conclusion came to his mind, he went to the desk and picked up their phone with the enlarged buttons for Al on it. He put the receiver to his helmet and punched in the phone number that he knew so well by heart. He waited during the rings, and after what seemed like forever, firm voice picked up at the end, for he was not groggy with sleep, because Al had called his work number.

_Colonel Mustang, _the voice said with authority at the end of the line.

"Colonel!" Al said in a panic stricken voice, "Edward's been kidnapped."

--

The colonel, at the end of the receiver, held a hand to his forehead as he heard the young boy in hysterics try and go through all that had happened and what made him think that Edward had been kidnapped. The phone was held in his other hand, for if he didn't keep it there, he would be so sure to snap. The information seemed probable and the fact that Edward had gone running off after their chat earlier that day didn't help calm Mustang's nerves either.

He had been sitting there, trying to make it through his paperwork that seemed to never go away, and he had determination set in his mind that he would get it all done _that night. _That was impossible now, because the prized alchemist was the number one priority in the military, or so it seemed. Their number one priority in the military was supposed to be with keeping the world in check, but apparently, that _little boy_ had always come first.

This was an exception though. The boy had been kidnapped, and by the information provided by his younger brother, it sounded as if it was a violent kidnap. The boy on the other end of the line seemed to be bawling. Mustang's eyes twitched.

"Alphonse!" Mustang said sternly into the receiver. The crying on the other end of the receiver didn't decrease nor increase.

"_Alphonse!_" Mustang shouted into the phone. The crying stopped abruptly and only a few sniffles could be heard from the end of the line, "Do you know _anyone _who would have the right intentions to kidnap your brother?"

The boy sniffled once, twice, three times, _um… I'm not sure of anyone in particular who would want to kidnap him…_

"Have there been any recent missions that he had been assigned to that upon it he met some unfriendly visitors?" Mustang asked impatiently into the phone.

_Um… _The boy seemed to be taking his time to think back to the missions his brother was assigned, _There were some… mean people back at Laboratory Five…_

"_What?!?!_" Roy barked into the phone. He heard Al wince at the end of the receiver, "What. Did. You. Say?!?!"

_I mean, I can't really call them humans… but they wanted Ed to make the Philosopher's Stone. _

"What?!?! Why didn't he _tell _me about this?" Mustang demanded.

_Edward tends to keep to himself… a lot. He doesn't even tell me everything that goes on in his life and he tells even less to anyone else. Please don't take it personally._

"But when I asked him for any information about what happened at Laboratory Five, he told me that there was no more…" Mustang drew to a whisper, "_that I needed to know…"_

_Ed doesn't like to burden people with problems that he thinks are only on his shoulders. I think it's a ridiculous thing but I guess that's his way of being humble. He's really not a bad person, Colonel!_

"I understand Alphonse," Mustang said sternly into the receiver. He didn't understand much at this point but he did know that Edward had falsified information to a superior officer, "Do you know who the people were down in Laboratory Five?"

The boy was silent for a moment before the strangled voice choked out, _Homunculi…_

Mustang's eyes widened in surprise and fear. The stakes were just pushed up ten times. If the homunculi were trying to get Edward to make them the stone in Laboratory Five, and Edward got away before he made them one, then they were back to force Edward to make one again. After he did, he would be useless to them and they could just dispose of him. There was also a chance that they were punishing him for not making one when he had the chance. The outcome was going to end in life or death, Roy knew it. He took a deep breath before he strangled the words out.

"I'm sending out a search party for Fullmetal. Do you have any leads Al?"

The boy was crying now, and Mustang actually pitied the boy, _I think Edward's coffee was drugged! There's blood and vomit on the floor and the vomit is a pasty white color. The window's open so I think whoever kidnapped him took him out from the window!_

"Thanks, Alphonse." Mustang said, "We will be ready in five," And he hung up the phone.

Mustang didn't waste any of the time that he had. Time was limited, and he didn't know how long it had been since Edward was kidnapped, but by the sounds of it, he had puked up what the majority of the drug was and along with it was some blood. That was never a good sign. He got up from his desk and ran over to Hughes' office, knowing fully well that the man had sacrificed his time from Elysia to finish his paper work also. He knew because Hughes' was only in there ten minutes before the urgent phone call was made and was complaining about how he couldn't see Elysia that night because he was so far back in paper work. Then came the pictures and Mustang had ended up threatening him to leave or to face the wrath of his snaps. Hughes didn't hesitate to walk away.

But now, Mustang wished that Hughes had been there for the phone call, for then, he could have rounded up a search party for Mustang and they would have a little bit more time on their hands, but that was not the case. Instead, Mustang barged into Hughes' office, and the expression that was all over his face told Hughes that something was not right.

"What's going on?" Hughes asked, getting up from his desk and rounding the table.

"Edward's been kidnapped." Mustang ran quickly through the procedure, "Round up a search party. I'll contact Hawkeye. We need to search every place in Central. Something tells me his kidnappers wouldn't go too far-"

"Whoa, wait, slow down." Hughes interrupted, "Do you know who kidnapped him?"

"From what our leads are, the kidnapper was a homunculus."

Hughes stayed silent.

"Hughes, did you know about this?"

Hughes bowed his head, "Yes," he said in a small tone.

Mustang growled, "Is _everyone _keeping me in the dark? The next thing I figure out, _Hawkeye _is going to be _pregnant!"_

"Sir, you need to stay on task." Hughes said lightly.

"Right, you're forgiven. Round up a search party." Mustang shooed him away. As he thundered out of the room, he heard a 'right' behind him.

Mustang went into his office once more and picked up his phone. Quickly he dialed in Hawkeye's number. The lady on the end of the line picked up at the first ring, but her voice was still thick with sleep.

_Lieutenant Hawkeye, _Riza's voice on the other line confirmed.

"Riza…" Roy breathed, not trusting his voice, "Edward's been kidnapped. I need you down here as soon as you can."

Hawkeye was silent for a moment, "I'll be there in two minutes," and the line went dead.

Roy thought it convenient that Hawkeye didn't try and over flood himself with questions. Most of the questions she would ask Roy knew that he wouldn't have the answers for them. He didn't know a lot of things at the current time. He didn't know where Edward was, he didn't know what drug he had been poisoned with, and all of the facts that he _thought _that he knew weren't even set in stone yet. This was going to be a challenge for the Flame Alchemist, and he was ready to take it on with a snap of his fingers.

Mustang rounded about out of his office and made his way down to Hughes office. He didn't even have to collect him from his office, for Hughes was standing outside of his office, waiting for him, and then they broke into a sprint down to the main lobby of the headquarters. Roy assumed that Maes had called his usual team down to headquarters: Breda, Falman, Havoc, Fuery, and then the obvious, himself, Hughes, and Hawkeye. Those were the exact faces that he was met with when he arrived down in the lobby.

There was an odd number of people in their group, so Mustang quickly divided it up as well as he could, "Breda, Havoc, Hughes, check the east side of Central. Make sure that Breda doesn't kill himself on the way. Falman, Fuery, Hawkeye, you're with me. We're checking the east side of the city. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a chorus of 'yes sir's' that erupted from the group. Each separate group headed off in a sprint.

_Fullmetal… _Mustang thought, _where the hell are you?_

--

Edward's senses came to a full alert at the force of a kick to his head. His head banged against the wall that he was against, and the sound ricocheted throughout his head. A headache was coming at the very least and he felt warm blood trickle down his right temple. He gasped out of surprise and tried to catch his breath. His surveillance laughed.

He knew that voice. He _really _knew that voice. It was so familiar it nearly made him wince and he had heard that air splitting voice not even a month ago. He turned his head towards his surveillance; his capturer; his _kidnapper. _The everlasting homunculus stood there laughing, his leg making another move to kick him.

On normal circumstances, Edward would have been able to dodge the attacks or better yet, to stop them and send them reeling back, but the fact was, Edward was chained up against a wall, his arms chained together and his legs injured beyond use. He was sure that his automail leg was detached from his body; just another inconvenience to slow himself down. Edward was sure that his flesh leg was broken – he didn't remember the cause; he assumed that Envy had decided to break it earlier. There was a gash on the right side of his flesh leg. He drew back a breath.

Envy's leg came in connection with his stomach this time, and Edward was pushed as far back as the wall would let him go. The breath he had drawn in was now long gone and he found much difficulty drawing back another. He felt his eyes bulging out for the breath was not coming. Finally, after what felt like ten minutes, Edward was finally able to take a breath, two, three – he started breathing deeply and wondered slightly if he would ever get enough oxygen.

Finally, the time came when Edward was able to breathe normally again, and Edward looked up at Envy with dulled golden eyes. Envy was now leaning against a post, casually.

"So pipsqueak," Envy said, "Are you going to make us the stone now?"

Ed, overwhelmed by rage, ignored the last part of the sentence, "Don't _call me that!" _Edward screeched.

Envy smirked, "Wrong answer, short stuff." And his foot came in connection with Edward's jaw. Edward's head slammed up against the concrete wall behind him, and he swore he saw stars. But just as fast as that moment came, Ed saw Envy kneeling down in front of him, his face right in front of his.

"I can ask you again, _pipsqueak. _Are you going to make us the Philosopher's Stone?"

There was a flurry of answers that Edward could have chosen, and perhaps one of them could have had a better chance of saving his life… and perhaps one of them could have ended his life, right then and there. Instead, Edward gave Envy the most simplest of answers, "No."

Edward simply closed his eyes for the next abuse and kept up a solemn expression. Throughout the anger that Envy registered, Edward felt himself being knocked around in different directions and blood coming from what felt like every inch of his body. He knew that if he didn't look, then it wouldn't nearly hurt so bad, so he kept his eyes closed, and was able to keep up the emotionless expression.

When the knocking and pushing around came to a halt, Edward first hesitated to open his eyes, but ended up opening them all the way. Envy was right in front of him, a cold, rough hand placed on his chin. Edward tried to move away from the filth, but found that he was too weak to move a muscle. He then noticed the tears that had escaped from his eyes. He had tried to contain his emotions, but they had only gotten in his way. He had let the sin see his weakness. He had satisfied the sin; strengthened it.

It was only until he looked to the ground that he knew what damage had been caused. Blood cascaded the floor and dripped down from his arms and body. There was a pool surrounding his body and Ed was able to notice slightly that he felt very light headed. He felt his breathing go almost hysterical and knew that he was growing paler every second. Envy grinned and threw Edward's head to the side, enjoying a satisfying crack that Edward's neck made. Edward didn't feel the pain. He became beautifully numb.

He heard, out of the edge of his hearing, banging in a hallow area. He looked up towards Envy.

"They're too late." Envy said, grinning, "There is no way you can survive after this."

Edward didn't know who 'they' were, but he knew that Envy was right: there was no way that he could survive after that. He felt his life being drained out of him and felt his eyes closing into the darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Envy disappear above him and saw a material pushed out of the way.

Envy was right: they were too late.

Edward slipped into the darkness.

--

"Falman, Fuery, get the other team! I want you guys back here as soon as possible! Hawkeye, stay with me. I'm going to need your gun expertise." Mustang commanded all while slipping on his spark gloves He snapped lightly a couple times to make sure that he could get an ember. He got more than an ember, and ended up blackening the concrete wall in front of him. He put his ear up against the wall. Faint murmurings could be heard, and there was one yell out in anger that sounded a hell of a lot like Edward's.

"Hawkeye, I can confirm that is Edward in there. I need you to help me ram this door down." Mustang commanded rolling up his sleeves and taking a few steps back. Hawkeye nodded once, not questioning his logic and took a few steps back. She held her gun in her hand as she braced herself.

"On the count of three." Mustang muttered, "One… two…_ three!" _And the two rammed into the door. The door knocked forward but sat back into its original position. Mustang counted again, and the two knocked into the door again. One of the hinges snapped forward. They rammed into the door once more, and the door flew out in front of them. Hawkeye already had her gun cocked and ready.

At first, the air was clouded with dust, and it was hard to see anything. That didn't stop Hawkeye from shooting when she saw a black figure swinging from the ceiling.

The dust eventually cleared out, and Mustang's eyes widened in surprise and fear at the half naked boy across the room. He started sprinting across the room, but it seemed that no matter how fast he willed his legs to take him, that they wouldn't take him fast enough. The boy lay there, pale to an extreme, with blood lying in a pool around his broken legs. His automail leg had wires sticking out from the port and his flesh leg was twisted at a sickening angle. The golden eyes were no longer visible, hiding under gray and hallow eyelids. His chest was bloody and covered in cuts, and there was a new bruise forming over his ribs. His arms were tied above his head in a cruel fashion to where the metal cuffs were digging into his flesh. His head was lolled to the side and there were cuts, breaks, bruises, and blood covering his entire body. Mustang wasn't even sure that the boy was even alive or not. If coming to the conclusion that Edward was dead, Mustang would not know what in the world he would do. Headquarters was simply boring without Fullmetal there to be screaming from down the hall. Registering into mind that Ed _might _be alive, he finally made it to Edward's side, and placed two fingers over Fullmetal's bloody wrist.

_Thump… thump, thump… thump…_ A pulse. Hardly one in the least, but still there. Mustang let go a sigh of relief that he had been holding in since he and Hawkeye knocked down the door, but then a new terror washed over him. _What if Fullmetal won't make it? … What if he gives up…?_

_No. _Mustang reassured himself. He had known Fullmetal far too long to know that he would just give up that easily. Why, with alchemic overloads, galore, he had still been able to survive through the roughest of _games. _

Hawkeye, working above him, was getting her hands bloody and messy as she was breaking the locks around Edward's wrists. Successfully, she was able to break the lock on both of the wrists, and Edward came tumbling down into her arms. Mustang hastily took off his blue jacket and placed it around the boy's bloody body. He saw the blood coming from the boy seep through his jacket instantly.

He collected Ed from Hawkeye in a heart beat and started sprinting towards the doorway; all while trying to protect Ed. He made it out the doorway and into the dark alley that the tiny storage room was located. Hawkeye ran behind him with her gun cocked in case any thugs decided that it would be fun to jump two state officers and a fallen alchemist.

Outside of the alley, Mustang hit the sidewalk, sprinting down it nearly as fast as he could towards the center of central; where the military hospital was. Down the side walk, he saw five men running towards him. He recognized the tall, black haired man as Hughes, and ran even faster towards the group. Once Hughes was able to decipher Mustang's urgency and tell what his package was, he stopped abruptly, and the rest of the officers followed. As soon as Mustang reached them, they all started sprinting at his pace.

Hughes ran beside Mustang and gasped when he saw the bloody mess that was Edward, "What happened?"

"We're not entirely sure." Mustang replied, his voice full of regret, "We saw a black figure jumping towards the ceiling of the storage room where he was being tortured and so we're assuming that the figure was a homunculus. For all I know, we could have been too late." Mustang choked on the last part of the sentence.

"Don't say that." Hughes reassured, "You know that this Elric has been through much more brutal punishments than this one, and I don't think that he'll allow being tortured to be the death of him."

"I don't think he has a choice to whether bleeding to death will be the death of him or not." Mustang replied.

After sprinting ahead of the other officers, Hughes and Mustang saw the military hospital in sight and sprinted the rest of the way there.

--

Mustang waited outside of the room with his best friend, Hughes, sitting by his side. They were thinking vaguely the same things, whether or not Fullmetal would be okay, except for in Hughes' mind, he referred to Fullmetal as Edward. In additions to the thoughts, Mustang's were also very regretful.

He had simply let Fullmetal run off like that after their argument back at his office. He should have grabbed the boy by the neck of his collar and told him upright not to act like a coward and to accept his punishment with dignity. In the least, he should have forced him to stay at headquarters. Then, perhaps he could have sent the boy home when he himself left from work, which would have been very late in the night, and then there was a surefire certainty that his brother would be home to make sure that nothing happened to him. He knew that Fullmetal could be a magnet for trouble.

It had only been a month. _A month _and he had gotten himself in trouble once more with the homunculi. He wondered how he did it. Why the homunculi were attracted to him like a _magnet _instead of any other alchemist. Because he was a _prodigy _at what he did. He was the youngest state alchemist that the history books held and he was, by far, a better alchemist than most claimed to be. It was even true that he might have been a better alchemist than himself.

He commenced back with beating himself up over the kidnapping of Fullmetal. He could have been less hard on the boy. He could have cut him some slack, but instead, pushed him to the edge. Mustang soon then realized that Fullmetal _had _falsified information and _had _hidden the truths about the homunculi. Mustang _could _have him arrested and _could _have him stripped of his state alchemist pocket watch, but he knew that would only make the boy more rebellious and if he _did _have him arrested, then he knew that he _would _escape from prison, one way or another. He knew that Fullmetal just couldn't stay still for more than five minutes.

A doctor walked out of Edward's room, looking tired and stressed. Mustang got up onto his feet and met to confront with the doctor. Hughes followed his lead.

"Sir…"

"I don't want details," Mustang said, "please, just tell me whether he will survive or die."

The doctor was silent for a moment.

"He will survive."

"Survive?"

_Survive…_

--

_So… did you know?_

Edward stared into the darkness, confused, "What?"

_There's a reason that your brother didn't come back to your dorm to make sure you were okay._

"He was at the library! Studying!"

_Or so he wants you to think! He was trying to avoid you! Trying to make sure that you would be captured, destined to die off sooner or later._

"That's not true! I know that my brother loves me!"

_Or how about Mustang! Hmm? Why didn't he stop you from leaving headquarters?_

"He knew that I needed to cool down!"

_OR he knew of where you were destined to go. He knew that Envy would attack you sooner or later, and gave him the perfect moment to attack._

"No… that's not true… that _can't _be true!"

…

"Wait! Aren't you going to answer me! Please! I know that my brother loves me and that Mustang cares about me! I know it!

…

"Al… Alphonse…? Mustang…?"

Absolute silence.

"…Anyone?"

--

_Continuation is "Sabotage". Find it under my profile ^-^_


End file.
